


A Need To Know

by TR33G1RL



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Love Confessions, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26281318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TR33G1RL/pseuds/TR33G1RL
Summary: A conversation between Apoo and Hawkins about if they've ever thought about kissing each other leads to a confession.
Relationships: Basil Hawkins/Scratchmen Apoo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	A Need To Know

"I must ask, Apoo. Are you not... curious?"

Apoo's fingers halt over the strings of his quitar as he glances up, purple eyes immediately finding the figure of his roommate sitting on the other side of their small living room. Legs crossed over one another, back impeccably straight, and cup of tea in hand, Hawkins is his usual self. The heavy rain has led to both men staying inside for the day, a blessing in disguise as Hawkins and Apoo had decided to drink themselves into a pleasant evening and a heavy sleep the night before. Now, as they sit in their respective chairs in the early afternoon, Apoo's brows pinch in confusion. His head is completely clear by now, all the alcohol having been processed by his body sometime in the early morning while he slept it off, but Hawkins' question is confusing.

"Curious? About what?" Apoo asks as he leisurely traces his fingers over his guitar's wooden body, following its familiar curves and dips. He went with his accoustic guitar this morning, knowing that Hawkins rather likes the sound of quiet music to accompany the raindrops against the windows. While Apoo doesn't remember when he started noticing Hawkins' prefrences or Hawkins noticing his, the musician can't help but feel beyond pleased whenever he thinks about it. Though he'd never admit it aloud, he cherishes the slow, all-consuming warmth that spreads like sunlight over every inch of being. The very second Apoo met Hawkins, he'd known they would be good friends, and now, years later, he's still closer with Hawkins than he is with anyone else, and he wouldn't have it any other way. 

Hawkins eyes, a vivid crimson that Apoo has said on many occasions to be 'the perfect rose red', are calm and collected as a painting's as he sets his cup on a coaster, leaving all his attention free to answer Apoo's question. His hand lifts, elegant fingers pushing a stray strand of long hair back with its brethren as his deep voices carries through the room with ease. "I am speaking about the conversation we had last night." Hawkins' voice sounds even and his expression reveals nothing, but Apoo can see the way the other man's fingers twitch, the faintest of movements like a flutter of a butterfly's wings. "Specifically, the conversation about what it would be like..." Hawkins seems to hesitate for a moment and even from across the room, Apoo can see the beginnings of pink soaking into Hawkins' cheeks, "If we were to kiss." 

Eyes going wide, Apoo blinks in surprise before saying a quiet, "Oh." He draws in a deep breath before blowing it out slowly as he carefully sets his guitar to the side, placing it on its stand before looking back to Hawkins. "So you remember that conversation, huh?" he asks with a dry huff of laughter, lifting a hand to push his own long hair out of his face, trying to use the action to distract from the matching flush that crosses over his own face. He had thought Hawkins would be too drunk to remember that conversation, just like he had been the other times they talked about it. Apparently not this time.

"I do, yes," Hawkins replies slowly, moving forward in his chair as his brows furrow in confusion. "Though the way you phrase that question suggests that not only have you thought about this before, but we have even had this conversation before, perhaps while I was too intoxicated to remember. Am I correct?" Fingers linking together, Hawkins sets his hands in his lap and patiently waits for Apoo's response.

Apoo gives a short nod, swallowing around the dryness that sticks to the inside of his throat. "We, uh... We've talked about it before, yeah," he admits, nervously tapping his fingers against his knee. His eyes move around the room, looking everywhere but Hawkins' curious face. "A couple times when you and I got really drunk, the subject just kind of came up and we kind of... talked about it." Apoo shrugs, thought the action is actually meant to disguise his nervous twitching. "I mean, we never did anything. We just talked about it for a while before some other subject came up and we fell asleep about ten minutes later," he hurriedly adds in explination.

Hawkins hums softly, considering Apoo's words before slowly nodding. "I see," he says, quiet and easy as an early morning sunrise. There's a moment of silence before Hawkins asks, "If that is the case, would I be correct in assuming that you _have_ thought about... the subject at hand?"

Apoo blinks in surprise, eyes darting to Hawkins' face in his shock only to find that the bright red eyes are now avoiding his gaze instead of the other way around. "A-About kissing you?" Another passes through Apoo's lips as he offers Hawkins a shrug to match his sheepish expression. "I mean, yeah, of course I have. Who hasn't thought about kissing their friends at least once? And more than that, who wouldn't think about kissing someone like you?" Apoo laughs, the sound awkwardly loud in the quiet of their apartment.

The statement catches Hawkins off guard and his eyes lock on Apoo's, and both feel their breath catch in their throat. "Oh," Hawkins says softly, his hands tightening their hold on each other. "I had not known of these conversations prior to today, but I will admit that I have had similair thoughts." Hawkins manages to hold Apoo's gaze, tongue flicking over his lip, the slightest of nervous habits.

It takes a few moments for the words to register in Apoo's mind, but once they do, his posture jolts straight as he sits upright, eyes still locked on Hawkins' even as his heart begins to thud loudly against his chest. "Yeah?" He asks, the sound coming out choked and shaky. "Well, that's uh... That's interesting." Apoo nods, the action more to himself than anything as he tries not to lose any more of his vocabulary at the sight of his lovely roommate with such an attractive blush on his face.

Both fall into a pregnant silence once again, hands and eyes shifting around nervously. Tension builds with each growing moment and neither man knows what they could say that could possibly break the pressure of the situation. Nothing comes to either man's mind as they try and think of a way to continue. Both worry, their hearts in their throats as they wonder what the fallout of this conversation will be. Could this break their friendship? Could their friendship even recover from such a revealing revelation?

It's just as Apoo thinks he's finally thought of something to say that Hawkins speaks first. 

"They are thoughts that I enjoy," Hawkins says quietly, the words so soft yet they shatter everything Apoo knows to be true. Hawkins' hand lifts to his face, brushing his fingertips over his lips in a feather-light motion, the motion subconcious as he adds on, "I think about it more often than I should. What it would be like to kiss you, and how your lips would feel on mine. How would your kisses differ, I wonder, from a quiet morning in bed to a long awaited reunion?" Hawkins eyes move back to Apoo's face, trailing over the shape of his mouth before meeting his eyes. "Would you kiss me as if you are telling me you want me, or as if you are asking me if I want you?" The question floats into the air like a bubble, light and delicate and so very, very breakable. Hawkins opens his mouth to say more, but he seems to rethink it, instead running his hand through his hair as he watches Apoo, waiting for him to respond to the confession.

Apoo draws in a quiet breath, his own eyes moving over Hawkins' mouth, taking in the shape and texture of his lips before he meets Hawkins' gaze. A crooked grin pulls at his own mouth as he pushes his glasses up so he can rub at his eyes. "Damn, Hawkins... Knowing you have those kinds of thoughts, too, is... Heh, it's a lot." Apoo chuckles as he puts his glasses back in place, looking back at Hawkins. "I mean, I think about kissing you every day. I think about when and where you'd do it, I think about how you'd feel and taste, I think about if you-" he swallows nervously "-If you'd want another kiss after the first one." His hands fidget and he has to resist the urge to look away from Hawkins. He can feel how his own cheeks are hotter than sunburn, and his heart is beating fast, but he wouldn't trade the feeling for anything.

Hawkins in in a similair state, his normally stoic expression showing subtle signs of being flustered. "I..." Apoo's words render him speechless; the thought of Apoo thinking of him like that, of Apoo aching to feel Hawkins' lips against his own, makes Hawkins' entire being itch with anticipation and want. It's enough to clear out every thought in his head until all he can hear is his own heartbeat and the echoing of Apoo's words in his mind. He clears his throat, a small smile playing at his lips as he lowly asks, "How could I know if I long for a second kiss before you have even offered a first?" Nervous and flustered as he is, Hawkins leans forward in his chair, his soft grin pushing past his dry sense of humor to reveal that he is truly flirting with Apoo.

"Huh?" Apoo blinks in surprise as his body tenses. "You serious, Hawkins?" he asks even as he gets to his feet, wide-eyed as Hawkins does the same.

"Indeed." The blond man steps closer to him on slightly shaky legs, stopping with his body only a forarm's length from Apoo's own. "Are you... opposed to such an act?" Hawkins asks quietly, though he fears no rejection.

Apoo's lips pull into a cheerful grin as he replies with a happy, "Not at all." Then he feels Hawkins' hand on his jaw, palm against his jaw and thumb against his cheekbone, as Hawkins curls two fingers of his other hand around one of the beltloops on Apoo's jeans and pulls him close. Apoo lets out a surprised laugh at Hawkins sudden boldness before he puts both of his on Hawkins' waist and drags him even closer until their breaths mingle and their lips are only inches apart.

They both close the distance between them at the same moment. Their lips barely brush against each other before a warmth so fulfilling and strong washes through both of them, urging them to deepen their kiss. They slide their lips together, their cravings for each other only growing as they feed into their wants. Their wants become needs as the sheer joy and pleasure that washes through them makes their hands shake as they go weak at the knees. If not for their holds on eahc other, they would have fallen to the ground. But their grips only tighten as the rest of the world falls away and all that is left is their love for each other.

Eventually, they can't help but part for oxygen, breathing heavily as they rest their foreheads together, grinning breathlessly as hey catch their breath. Apoo chuckles, leaning into Hawkins' touch as tenderly brushes some of Apoo's hair out of his face. Hawkins' smile grows at Apoo's reaction, letting his fingers move over from the musician's cheek to brush over his lips. He hums softly when Apoo presses a gentle kiss to his fingertips with a wink.

"I believe I would like that second kiss now."


End file.
